Traditionally, wristwatches were formed of three major components: a movement, a display connected to the movement, and a movement casing. The movement casing held the movement and was formed with relatively thick walls of impact-resistant material, such as metal, to protect the movement. The display then fit into or over the movement casing. Typically, the movement casing included a lug on either side, to which was attached a simple watch band formed of leather or of interconnected metal links. According to modem watch styles, however, the watch band often is attached to the movement casing so that the watch band, the movement casing, and the display appear to all be formed as an integral unit.
For example, with some modem style watches, the watch band is formed from a single piece of material, such as a plastic or rubber, with an aperture in the center. The movement casing then is placed over the aperture on one side of the band. Further, a lock piece is positioned over the aperture on the opposite side of the band, and removably affixed to the movement casing. The lock piece has a flange that extends over the band, so that a portion of the band around the aperture is sandwiched between the movement casing and the lock piece. In this manner, the movement casing is securely held in place on the watch band so that the movement casing and the watch band appear to be integrally formed. While this type of configuration provides an appearance of watch components being integrally formed, this structure requires the use of a relatively thick movement casing to protect the movement.